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Unresolved Filament Getting Twisted by Hobbed Bolt?

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by Caleb Cangelosi, Aug 29, 2016.

  1. Caleb Cangelosi

    Caleb Cangelosi Member

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    I've been printing beautifully the past week, but tonight my filament stopped extruding, and it seems that it's because of a hobbed bolt issue. I'm using PET-G from eSun, and it's getting twisted as it extrudes. So rather than extruding, it's just staying put. Is the hobbed bolt not getting enough grip? Or too much grip? I've not changed any settings from last week when it was working perfectly. Any idea what might be the problem, and what I can do? I'll post a picture next.
     
    #1 Caleb Cangelosi, Aug 29, 2016
  2. Caleb Cangelosi

    Caleb Cangelosi Member

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    [​IMG]


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
    #2 Caleb Cangelosi, Aug 29, 2016
  3. danzca6

    danzca6 Well-Known Member

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    Can you extrude by hand? Just wondering if you got a clog. Maybe a pic of the bolt as well.
     
    #3 danzca6, Aug 30, 2016
  4. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    That can be caused by a few things, but heat creep* comes to mind as a first look.
    Make sure the fan on the extruder itself is running full speed.


    *the small all metal hotends have a tiny melt zone and this is the only area where the filament should be soft/liquid. If the cooling on the finned/heatsink section of the hotend is insufficient or the heat break is incorrectly installed then the melt zone will 'grow' up the hotend and past the heat break which will stop the filament from feeding in correctly and this will cause the hobbed bolt to make a mess of it.
     
    #4 mark tomlinson, Aug 30, 2016
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  5. Rigmarol

    Rigmarol Well-Known Member

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    I had this happen, For me it turned out to be a clog.
    I tried extruding by hand with the large gear first and nothing happened.
    I opened the tension wheel and tried feeding by hand and was able to force a very little bit through.
    I removed the filament and took of the nozzle and cleaned it.
    Replaced the cleaned nozzle, it fed by hand and by gear and finally it extruded by command and printed fine after that.
    Just my experience with your's looks like to me.
     
    #5 Rigmarol, Aug 30, 2016
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  6. Caleb Cangelosi

    Caleb Cangelosi Member

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    Thanks for the responses. I was able to push filament in by hand, so I knew I didn't have a clog. What I did was while it was running, and in the process of twisting/not extruding, I unscrewed the two screws, and pushed it down a little harder so that the hobbed bolt would grab it. I'm not sure, but it seemed like maybe the smooth wheel on the other side of the hobbed bolt was slick, so I dried it off and tightened it, and it started working again. Very strange, but it eventually started working and printed a prosthetic gauntlet fine through the night. I'll check these other things you mention if it happens again. Is there a way to clean the hobbed bolt without taking it apart?
     
    #6 Caleb Cangelosi, Aug 30, 2016
  7. Rigmarol

    Rigmarol Well-Known Member

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    I use canned air and a toothbrush. Tweezers occasionally are useful too.
     
    #7 Rigmarol, Aug 30, 2016
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  8. danzca6

    danzca6 Well-Known Member

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    I'll see your canned air, toothbrush, and tweezers and raise you a toothpick. :) Yeah luckily it is fairly accessible by just loosening the two screws enough to come off of the tension lever. The lever flips down and gives you the room to clean out the teeth when needed.
     
    #8 danzca6, Aug 30, 2016
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  9. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    I use a 90 degree oring pic :)

    As far as the twisted reduce your speed a but and see if it works better
     
    #9 Geof, Aug 30, 2016
  10. danzca6

    danzca6 Well-Known Member

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    #10 danzca6, Aug 30, 2016
  11. Rigmarol

    Rigmarol Well-Known Member

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    #11 Rigmarol, Aug 30, 2016
  12. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Thats essentially what ive got. Being a tech tool companies use to give them away so i have plenty for each machine :)
     
    #12 Geof, Aug 30, 2016
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